New Fight Date Fits De La Hoya to a Tee

Oscar De La Hoya welcomed the announcement that his fight against Miguel Angel Gonzalez at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas has been set back four weeks, to Oct. 12. . . .

"That means more golf," he said to promoter Bob Arum at a news conference in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday. "Thanks, Bob." . . .

It also means that De La Hoya, the only American boxer to win a championship at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, might attend the Olympic finals in Atlanta. . . .

"Winning the gold medal is still the biggest thrill of my life," said De La Hoya, who has won all 22 of his professional fights and a couple of titles. "It's been four years, but it seems like yesterday. Standing on the podium and listening to the national anthem is the greatest feeling an athlete can have." . . .

In the 132-pound finals in 1992, De La Hoya won a decision over Marco Rudolph of Germany. . . .

"Rudolph beat me in 1991," De La Hoya said. "It was my only loss in six years, but I beat him when it counted the most." . . .

Among the leading U.S. contenders for medals at Atlanta is Fernando Vargas of Oxnard. . . .

"Vargas already wants to fight me," De La Hoya said. "His expectations are high. But what he has to concentrate on now is winning the gold medal." . . .

De La Hoya hopes he will be responsible for other Southern Californians eventually fighting in the Olympics. . . .

He has completed purchase of the Resurrection Gym in East Los Angeles, which has been renamed the Oscar De La Hoya Youth Center. . . .

"Any kid who wants to train there has to try hard in life, go to school and prove to me he can be somebody in life," De La Hoya said. "I think it will open a lot of doors for kids who want the opportunity." . . .

De La Hoya's first defense of the World Boxing Council super-lightweight championship that he won from Julio Cesar Chavez was moved from Sept. 14 after the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon bout at the MGM Grand was rescheduled for Sept. 7. . . .

Gonzalez is 41-0, has 31 knockouts and Wednesday denied he had ever called De La Hoya a "paper champion." . . .

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Actor David Lander, best known for his portrayal of "Squiggy" on "Laverne and Shirley" and currently a regular on the USA Network series "Pacific Blue," is an associate scout for the Angels. . . .

No kidding. . . .

A baseball fan nearly his entire life, Lander this year scouted college players in Southern California and a couple of high school stars in Guelph, Canada, where he was attending a wedding, but has yet to sign a prospect. . . .

"I'm very particular," he said. . . .

How much have save rules been liberalized over the years? When Dodger closer Mike Marshall won the Cy Young Award in 1974, he had only 21 saves. . . .

Official scorers should be allowed to give outfielders errors if they misjudge fly balls. . . .

After one inning of Tuesday's debacle, the Dodger totals were 1-2-3. . . .

The purses of six stakes races on Super Sunday at Hollywood Park will total $1.7 million. . . .

As usual, Wayne Lukas has a corner on a race for 3-year-olds. He plans to enter Prince Of Thieves and Victory Speech in the $500,000 Swaps Stakes. . . .

The best race figures to be the $250,000 Vanity Handicap, a rubber match between Serena's Song and Twice The Vice. . . .

If heavily favored Sandpit wins the $700,000 Caesars Palace Turf Championship and takes both legs of the Caesars Challenge for the second consecutive year, he will earn a bonus of $280,000. . . .

The Slam-N-Jam National Invitational Tournament runs through Friday at the Pyramid, Long Beach State's campus gym. Among coaches scouting the high school prospects this week have been Rick Pitino of Kentucky, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Bob Huggins of Cincinnati. The Southern California team is top seeded. . . .

In Chicago last week, Cigar's owner, Allen Paulson, said, "The only difference between Cigar and Michael Jordan is they don't put lead weights in Jordan's sneakers before games."